Careers360 World-class universities: What can India learn? | Page 21

World class
university
Alumni
Base

Alongside faculty they
the bedrock of a great
Good and diverse alumni are the core strength of world class universities. They provide
funds, resources and most importantly connections for future students to tap into…
Global

Alumni Data
University
of Toronto

583,458

University of
Michigan Ann Arbor

The University
of Texas at
Austin

540,000

460,000

University of
California,
Berkeley

458,000

University
of Illinois at
UrbanaChampaign

425,000

University of
Wisconsin Madison

New York
University

400,372

400,000

University of Toronto’s alumni
association arranges awards and
scholarships valued at $100,000

by Team Careers360

W

hen Yale conceptualized
building two new full residential
undergraduate
colleges, it tapped into its
wide alumni base. In came a 250 million dollar contribution from Charles
Johnson, former chairman of Franklin Resources Inc. The large donation
almost single-handedly covered 75% of
the total cost. That is the kind of push
alumni could provide to a university.
US universities, especially in the private
sector, have traditionally been heavily
dependent on contributions by rich and
privileged individuals and corporations.
They consequently have very structured
programmes and departments to continually engage and enrich their alumni
sources. The symbiotic and mutually
beneficial relationships maintained by
these universities go a long way in making them world class.
Indian universities are very much
in a nascent stage when it comes to

alumni relationships. Barring the IITs
and select IIMs, no other university has
any worthwhile initiative to engage and
relate with its alumni. With the kind of

52

Careers

360

January 2014

resources, financial or otherwise, that is
essential to the making of a world class
university, it is imperative that universities wake up to this new realty.